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Published by Dave Terry
on Saturday, July 23, 2011 at 8:19 PM.

Okay, now I've seen almost every travel gadget. I don't usually review them here because when I travel I travel very light, one bag, remember? Of course you do.

Anyways, where was I? Oh yeah. How about a gadget that doesn't take any room in your bag, helps you sleep, and costs nothing?

I've got just the thing for you. A white noise generator.

You can find it at simplynoise.com. Don't have an Internet connection? You can get the 99 cent app SimplyNoise for your iPhone. Oh, and it generates white noise or pink noise or brown noise. Don't ask me, I don't know the difference. But there it is. Lot's of noise in various colors. Even comes with a timer so you can go to sleep listening. Kinda cool.

Now I was trying to make sense of all of this. When would you use it? Yeah, I know, if you can't sleep. Or maybe you're staying at a hostel and need to block out the rock band downstairs. Don't laugh, it could happen.

Me? I'd rather listen to my Pandora "Una Mattina Radio" station. It's beautiful instrumental piano music. Very pensive, very soothing. It's go-to-sleep sort of music. Or you could use it while journaling. It's perfect background music for writing.

(Note: I don't receive any renumeration from any of the stuff I talk about here. If I like it, use it, or think you might, I'll highlight it here. Money clouds the view.)

...dave
If you're at the airport and see mistletoe above the conveyor belt, you can kiss your luggage goodbye. -Anon

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Published by Dave Terry
on Monday, July 18, 2011 at 8:31 AM.

We went on an overnighter about an hour and a half away with a group of 20 friends. It was the cheapest trip I've ever taken. But... why? Why didn't I figure it out? Fifteen dollars was all it cost per person. It included a chartered bus, one hotel night, and even a dinner out.

Are you kidding me? Fifteen bucks for the whole thing?

The bus was fine. There were no incidents. Except that, when we got to the town we were told to get off and walk to the hotel. It seems that there was an entry fee to the town for bus loads of people. If we walked, we could save a few dollars per person. So some of us got out and walked. Others hopped into a car and rode. No fees for cars I guess. And a few stayed on the bus but didn't get charged. It's always the same when traveling in China . . . nothing ever makes any sense.

After arriving by foot to the hotel, we discovered that the hotel arrangements had been canceled. No one put a deposit down so the rooms were lent out to another group. There were accommodations available in another hotel. I should have guessed.

When we got to the other hotel we were pleased. It was clean and neat, and that's really all I expected. From our room there was a view of the building next door, about an arm's length away. There was a restaurant downstairs, but the noise echoed up the building valley. We shut the window and turned on the TV and found a nature show to watch.

The bathroom was no bigger than a postcard. Shower, squat toilet, and sink were all within reach of each other. So I can use the facilities, shower, and shave all at the same time. The window was modestly covered with stained glass contact paper. Nice touch. But emphasis on THE window. There was only one. The other sliding window pane was missing. And the mirror on the opposite wall reflected the building window across the way . Hmmm...if I can see them, can't they see me? Never mind. I don't want to think about it.

The shower and toilet handles were built right in to the surface mounted pipes. There was a very convenient arrangement of cut-off valves, pipes and elbows, complete with Chinese characters for "hot" and "cold" which, conveniently enough, I was able to read. Not that it mattered. The "hot" was just a degree above "cold" so either gave me a cold shower. Actually, we later discovered that we had the deluxe shower. Our friend's bathroom didn't come with a shower head. They washed up under a raw water pipe.

I soon discovered that there was no toilet paper, soap, or towels in the bathroom. I walked back down five flights of stairs (did I mention that there is no elevator?) to find out why. Initially she said that there would be an extra charge of $1 per roll. After remonstrations we were able to get toilet paper and soap without cost. But there were no towels to be had at any price. We begged and pleaded. We even offered money but she was firm on this point. They didn't carry towels.

But why? Why on earth would a hotel not have towels? She said that it was just too much bother for her to have to wash them between each guest visit.

I just don't get it.

We walked down to the lakefront and had lunch and played some games. But even here, there was turmoil. Some lady with a straw hat came up and tried to charge us for using these little plastic chairs. We got up and told her we wouldn't use them. We'd just sit on the beach wall. She said we couldn't sit there either and continued to pester us. When she saw we were not going to leave, she remonstrated louder. We kindly asked her to leave. When it didn't look like she was going to take "No" for an answer, we told her to leave, not so kindly.